Roberts Collection Dungaree Dress

I have had such a busy time lately with Unwind, a new pattern release (have you seen my Otira Cardigan yet? You'll love her!) and normal family life with three boys and half a million animals. So I declared this weekend SEWING WEEKEND! It's been a while since I made something for me to wear. I like to think of it as shopping at my sewing machine. I wear mostly handmade clothes lately, and it gives me great satisfaction knowing that I can dress in clothes that my very own hands have made.

So the first (and hopefully not last!) garment off the blocks this weekend is my Roberts Collection Dungaree Dress. The pattern is the first I have bought from Marilla Walker and I'm pretty sure it will not be the last.

Ready to stick the pattern together ...

So, after numerous interruptions throughout the day, which involved rescuing a flat battery sufferer, moving a car into the paddock, and the obligatory patting of goats that followed that, and then lunch (seriously?! Why do they need feeding EVERY day!!), and dinner (really!!), I finally finished it at about 9pm last night. And I totally love it! 

All stuck together and ready to sew.

Can I make a suggestion? When sticking your pages together, don't leave them to dry on the table while you go and make lunch for your family, because this could be what happens to you too, when you go to cut them up.

Oopsie! I managed to stick my pattern to my table!

Oops! Luckily it's a glass table and therefore very easy to clean.

I had the usual dilemma of which size to make. I seem to fall between three sizes, getting wider as I go down. I don't like things to be too wide across my hips, because I feel it emphasizes them too much. So I went with the in-between size and it's perfect. I did worry that it was a bit big when I first put it on, before it was pressed and finished properly. But once I'd done that, I was pleased I hadn't made it any smaller, because I would never have been able to get it over my hips and it probably wouldn't be so easy to wear. Did I tell you how comfy it is? I love dresses for how comfy they are. Especially ones that are not toooo fitted.

All cut out and ready to sew!

The pattern instructions were really easy to follow. I got a little confused when it came to attaching the bib facing to the main bib, but had I read the instructions properly, I would've been fine. The perils of skipping ahead and only looking at the pictures!

The super cute lining of my pockets!

I did cut an awfully large amount of fabric off the hem! I find skirts suit me best if they're an inch or two (sometimes more!) above my knee. Unless it's a flowy skirt – then there is just way too much leg showing and it needs to be a little longer.

This is how much hem I cut off!

And ta-dahh! Here is the finished dress!

Since these pics were taken I have made a couple of little finishing touches to the bottom edge of the bib. It had a little funny tuck that was caused by my stitching-not-quite-in-the-ditch. So I unpicked the centre bit and ironed it flat and tried again. Then I ran another line of top stitching about 7mm away from that seam, which gives it a faux flat felled seam look. And hopefully makes it look a little less "homemade".

So all in all it was a fantastic project. And I see at least one more in my future – I want to make one in corduroy. Probably brown corduroy. Or maybe even green corduroy so I can match one of my favourite childhood story characters. Do you remember The Corduroy Bear? Such a beautiful story, full of suspense and love.

The Corduroy Bear - image found on the internet ... I lay no claim to this image.

Off I go to get more sewing done!